Me vs. Ship

My main exercise on the ship is running on the treadmill, when it’s calm enough. During a run the other day, it occurred to me that my pace on a treadmill at sea (with the ship motion) was similar to the speed that the R/V Langseth steams when we are towing gear and acquiring data (5-6 miles per hour). Of course I couldn’t keep up with the Langseth when she’s going full speed (~11-13 miles/hr), but I did wonder how we compared in total distance traveled if she was stopping and starting, as we do during OBS deployments and recoveries. So, on my last two long runs on the treadmill, we raced:

The panels on the left compare my average running speed (blue lines) with the ship’s speed (red) during the same time period for two different runs. The panels on the right compare the cumulative distance that I traveled during my run to the distance covered by the ship. Run 1 happened when we were towing gear and steaming at a slow speed. Run 2 happened during OBS recoveries when the ship was stopping and starting.

It’s a draw. Although I only have the tolerance for the boredom of treadmill running for a maximum of ~75 minutes, the Langseth keeps moving 24 hours a day, 7 days a week thanks to our ship’s crew… So, happily, she will win the long race.

Donna Shillington, NAU

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